The Sestak Stonewall

Rep. Joe Sestak, the winner of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, says quite openly and repeatedly that he was offered a job by the White House if he would drop out of the race against Sen. Arlen Specter. Having secured Specter’s conversion to the Democratic Party, thus giving the party a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Obama administration obviously sought to keep its word to Specter that it would do its utmost to deliver the Democratic nomination to him. According to Sestak, that included a job offer.

Who made the offer? What position was offered? And when did it happen? Sestak, who was nominated on a platform of “transparency” refuses to answer any of these questions. The White House admits that a conversation took place but won’t provide any details and insists that an “internal investigation” revealed that “nothing inappropriate” took place.

Or did it?

It is unlikely that Sestak was offered a job interviewing people for the census. Only a high-level job offer — a Cabinet post or an ambassadorship to a key country — would have sufficient gravitas to conceivably induce him to drop his primary challenge. Some have speculated that Sestak, a retired admiral, might have been offered the post of secretary of the navy. Others wonder that, since he is fluent in Russian, he was to be tapped for ambassador to Moscow.

And, before an offer of that magnitude were tendered, it would have had to have been cleared with the higher levels of the White House. How could an offer of a Cabinet post have been made without consultation with the chief of staff?

And how was the offer made? It would have to have been proffered by somebody who Sestak could reasonably assume was speaking for the president and could deliver on his end of the deal. A lower-level official wouldn’t have that kind of clout.

Could the offer have been tendered by Rahm Emanuel himself? It’s clearly his style.

But, could Rahm or anyone else have made such an offer without consulting the president himself? You can’t go around passing out Cabinet posts or ambassadorships without consulting the boss. Whatever position of that level the White House dangled in front of him, it would have to have been approved by the president.

And Sestak must have probed the person who conveyed the offer to ascertain its bona fides. He would reasonably have asked, “Did you clear this with the president?” Otherwise, why would he even consider such an offer?

The White House and Sestak are stonewalling questions from the media, and obviously, a Democratic controlled Congress is not about to go poking around asking about the proposed deal.

So how could the Republicans break it open?

The weak link here is Sestak himself, who claims that he embraces “transparency.” Fueled by his primary victory and the momentum it generated, Rasmussen has him four points ahead of Pat Toomey, the GOP candidate. This lead won’t hold up for long in the face of a refusal to respond to questions the public is entitled to have answered.

Toomey or the Republican Party or other independent expenditure groups should run ads throughout Pennsylvania asking these basic questions. They should tell Sestak that he ran on a platform of transparency and that its time to reveal who offered what and when.

Either Sestak is lying and there was never an offer, or the White House has skirted very close to having committed a crime or may have stepped over the edge. And, considering the stakes and the nature of what the offer would have had to have been, this scandal could reach very high indeed.

Is it a high crime and misdemeanor to offer someone something of value in return for withdrawing from a U.S. Senate race? We may be about to find out.

Impeach Obama! To all the hand-wringing Democrats who see their party, cause, freedoms and fortunes fading away under a Marxist regime, if you are fed up with Barack Obama’s attempts to socialize our Republic and his destruction of the current Marxist led Democrat Party, you have a window of opportunity to rectify your mistake of putting a hardcore Marxist in the White House. You have your best opportunity until November 2, 2010 to take your party back and salvage the more conservative members of you Democrat Congressional delegation. You have your best opportunity to out Obama and clean up the once proud Democrat Party. The real question is, do you have the intestinal fortitude to take action, or will you just go along to get along and hope for constructive change? If you and your Democrat Congressional don’t take this opportunity to vindicate your party, shut up and stop complaining and we will do the changing for you in November. Demand Congress impeach President Barack Obama according to our Constitutional remedies.

maria

Fully agree, Impeach him as soon as possible. There is plenty of evidence against him.
Marianne

steven

Just try and imagine how much corruption could be eliminated by enacting term limits. So much happens in government because super ambitious Alpha males are constantly trying to preserve their turf or seeking higher office. I see this as reaching crisis proportions.

http://intensedebate.com/people/iyzablue iyzablue

We ABSOLUTELY need term limits for Congress. It is so corrupt it I can smell DC here in Ohio!

davarino

Whats wrong with this? This is how they do it in Chicago. Hope and change. I hope this all works out, and brother do you have any change. I dont think we will have to impeach. I think these guys will implode soon under their own weight, like a black hole. There has to be so much corruption there is no way their little system can sustain itself.

Soon they will start feeding on each other. Should be fun to watch

beulah

"Black" hole? Isn't that a rather racist remark?

Cuban Refugee

In a déjà vu moment, we have a Watergate for our times — the only difference is that, in this go round, we do not see any sign of intrepid reporters from the Washington Post, or defectors from the Obama faux administration that wants to pass for legitimate, or even a hidden-in-the- shadows-of-a-parking-garage Deep Throat who will "out" the rampant malfeasance in office. Will the present day Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein PLEASE STAND UP? We would require a major miracle, or cutting the head of the snake in the "Justice" Department, in order to get any legitimate justice that isn't the communist "social" version! Will the Community Organizer in Chief and his minions continue to flex their executive muscles, laugh in the faces of decent Americans, and act with impunity? Where are the brave men and women who will expose the Chicago mob that has infiltrated the highest echelons of our government as the malevolent, treasonous worms they are?

http://intensedebate.com/people/Stephen_Brady Stephen_Brady

Agreed. Where is Deep Throat? What reporters are secretly meeting with him, with the purpose of bringing down a President that the Left hated since Alger Hiss?

Who's investigating this President who boasted of his "absolute power" before the Military Academy graduating class, at West Point?

ze-ev ben jehudah

If the dinig and wining is good what keeps you from moving to the dark side
of the force?. People sold there mothers for less.
By the way; why is it so hard to get the evidence above the table about Mr Barack
Hussein Obama's birth certificate!!,Why can't ther be no clear answer wether he
is born in the United states of Amnerica or not.If he is born in america all is
cleared up.But if he is not he can''t hold this precedency.

Michael

Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! Impeach Obama! Federal law was violated! Enforce the law and impeach Obama!

Saskwatch

So… What did Obama offer and when did he offer it?

Carolyn

The White House is already covering it up! In deference to the Prez, Sestak cannot admit the details, and he is probably sorry he opened his big mouth.

Forlorn Patriot

I don't much blame media pundits for backing off from any in-depth investigation of the filth in the D.C. petri dish. If they're intelligent and diligent enough to out incriminating evidence, they also obviously know what awaits them if they do. Think Capone-like gangland violence on themselves and their families. There is nothing too gruesome for these throw-backs who are ruining a republic. The power they have is a cancer, growing unabated and daring anyone to interfere. If this machine is not dismantled entirely in November, we are looking down the barrel of a loaded gun.

Jim C.

On "media pundits" aka journalists: If a story's good, there isn't a reporter around who doesn't want to break it. IF there's a story.

On investigation: Between demands to investigate Obama's citizenship to this: Does anyone in the Republican party know any lawyers?

cochavi1

Your theory only works if the media is interested in taking down a particular politician. Never before has the media in the US been so invested in a President as this one. That's obvious, it's clear, and it destroys your logic.

Jim C.

Logic requires facts. When this story has some, we'll talk.

ggh

Evry president I have ever read about could be impeached. Darn sounds like a good idea – how many would that be in a row – 43,44 I'll have to look it up. Forcing Arizona to enforce a federal law must be some type of deriliction of duty. Cities/states/organizations/… that are boycotting AZ should be boycotted themselves, or better yet build a funnel from Mexico to DC and let them live with it.

sally

What prompted Mr. Sestak to bring this situation up in the first place?
Why didn't he just forget about it since he refused the offer?